"I Can't Believe She's 20-1"

He had to recruit a new driver and his horse is the longest shot in the morning line, but trainer Dustin Jones says don't discount Martiniontherocks in Saturday's $600,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Trot at Pocono Downs

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"I can't believe she's 20-1. She has the most money made of any horse in the race. I think she's certainly capable of being top three," Jones said about the Conway Hall filly which is owned by his longtime client, Quebec businessman Serge Godin.

Martiniontherocks, who was a $40,000 yearling purchase, has earned $109,938 with three wins and seven top-three finishes from eight career starts. The only time she missed the board was in the $452,020 final of the Peaceful Way Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack, where she attempted a first-over challenge mid-race and tired to finish fifth.

She'll be starting from Post 8 Saturday for a new driver, Ron Pierce, who will be taking over for regular pilot Sylvain Filion, who opted to not make the trip from Ontario.

"She's laid-back, feminine, with a lot of class," Jones said about the star of his 30-horse stable. "She trained good yesterday (Wednesday, at Mark Lancaster's farm in New Jersey) so hopefully she'll do well."

Martiniontherocks will be the third Breeders Crown finalist for Jones, who had a third with Shanghai Phil in the 2004 final for two-year-old pacers and a ninth with I Scene The Light in the same race in 1998.

Although he still has a farm in Quebec along with a base in Ontario, Jones said this is probably his last winter in Quebec. Next year, he plans to start wintering in Florida and racing out of Ontario the rest of the time.

"To be able to race good horses, you have to be in the Toronto area," he said. "After two years, I'm finally starting to feel like part of the group there."

(A Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)